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A Latter Day Saint is a person who identifies with the Latter Day Saint movement, and believes Joseph Smith, Jr. to be a prophet of God and that Jesus Christ is the only begotten son of God. Latter Day Saints trace their religious heritage through Joseph Smith, Jr., and teach that he restored the original Church of Christ, which Latter Day Saints believe had disappeared from the earth after a period of apostasy. Latter Day Saints consider themselves to be "saints" in the earliest Christian sense of the word, meaning members of the original church that they believe Jesus organized before his death in the First Century, AD.

Often, the term is used to refer specifically to members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), which is the largest Latter Day Saint denomination. However, since 1851, that particular denomination has hyphenated the word and does not capitalize the D in Day. See Latter-day Saint. Because of the widespread use of the hyphenated form, many Latter-day Saints view the original term Latter Day Saint as a misspelling, although the term is rarely hyphenated when referring to members of other, smaller denominations.

Because the LDS Church is by far the largest and most well-known Latter Day Saint denomination, a number of denominations who consider themselves Latter Day Saints prefer more informal terms to refer to their members, in order to avoid confusion. For example, the denomination that is officially named the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite) refers to itself informally as the Strangites. In addition, the Community of Christ, the second largest Latter Day Saint denomination, recently changed its name from the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, partly to avoid this type of confusion.

Latter Day Saints are sometimes also referred to as Mormons (a nickname taken from the title of the Book of Mormon). The size and prominence of the LDS Church, however, has led to the terms Mormon and Mormonism being generally understood as applying only to the LDS Church and its polygamous 20th century offshoots, who generally are happy to call themselves Mormons or Latter Day Saints. The desire of the LDS Church to disassociate itself from these polygamous denominations has led to a campaign by that Church to convince journalists to use the terms Latter-day Saint and Mormon only in reference to the LDS Church. (See LDS Style Guide). The Associated Press Style Guide states the following concerning the use of the term "Mormon" when referring to sects formed after Smith's death: “The term Mormon is not properly applied to the other churches that resulted from the split after * Smith’s death.”

Beliefs

Below is a passage from The Wentworth Letter that Joseph Smith Jr. wrote after being asked about the basic beliefs of the LDS Church. This collection of thirteen statements are known as the Articles of Faith.

  1. We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.
  2. We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam's transgression.
  3. We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.
  4. We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.
  5. We believe that a man must be called of God, by prophecy, and by laying on of hands by those who are in authority, to preach the Gospel and administer in the ordinances thereof.
  6. We believe in the same organization that existed in the Primitive Church, namely, apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, and so forth.
  7. We believe in the gift of tongues, prophecy, revelation, visions, healing, interpretation of tongues and so forth.
  8. We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God.
  9. We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.
  10. We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes; that Zion (the New Jerusalem) will be built upon the American continent; that Christ will reign personally upon the earth; and that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory.
  11. We claim the privilege of worshipping Almighty God according to the dictates of our conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.
  12. We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.
  13. We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul- We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.

Memorizing these Articles of Faith is one of the few requirements for those who have recently turned twelve to receive a "Primary graduation" certificate. The "Primary graduation" certificate is not needed to graduate from Primary, it is just to show you have done certain things while in Primary

List of Latter Day Saint churches and sects

  • The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - The largest branch, with some twelve million members worldwide; often referred to as the "Mormon Church"
  • Community of Christ - Formerly known (from April 6th 1860 to April 6th 2001) as The Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the second largest denomination with 250,000 members
  • Restoration Churches - Smaller, separate Latter Day Saint organizations

See also

Further reading

Mormonism | Latter Day Saint denominations

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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Latter Day Saint".

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